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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5241
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 1729
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A BUREAU COORDINATING SERVICES FOR
DEAF, HARD OF HEARING OR DEAFBLIND PERSONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2024) (a) There is established a 1
Bureau of Services for Persons Who Are Deaf, Hard of Hearing or 2
Deafblind which shall be within the Department of Aging and Disability 3
Services. 4
(b) The Commissioner of Aging and Disability Services, in 5
consultation with the Advisory Board for Persons who are Deaf, Hard 6
of Hearing or Deafblind, shall, not later than October 1, 2024, appoint an 7
executive director of the bureau, who shall (1) have professional 8
experience in serving the needs of deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind 9
persons, and (2) be (A) able to communicate in American Sign 10
Language, and (B) familiar with effective interpretation methods to 11
assist deafblind persons. The commissioner shall also hire an 12
administrative assistant for the executive director. 13
(c) The executive director shall: 14 Raised Bill No. 5241
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(1) Coordinate efforts of the Department of Aging and Disability 15
Services to provide information and referral services to deaf, hard of 16
hearing or deafblind persons on resources available to such persons, 17
including, but not limited to, working with the Commissioner of Aging 18
and Disability Services to establish an Internet web site for departmental 19
and bureau services for such persons that is accessible to all such 20
persons; 21
(2) Assist the commissioner in administration of the department unit 22
that registers qualified interpreters and issues identification cards to 23
state registered interpreters in accordance with section 17a-838 of the 24
general statutes; 25
(3) Coordinate responses to consumer concerns, requests for 26
assistance and referrals to resources; 27
(4) Coordinate education and training initiatives, including, but not 28
limited to, working with (A) local and state public safety and public 29
health officials and first responders on best practices for serving and 30
communicating with deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind persons, and (B) 31
sign language interpreters, oral interpreters and interpreters who are 32
trained to interpret for deafblind persons to maintain or enhance the 33
skills of such interpreters in a variety of settings; 34
(5) Collaborate with interpreting services providers and training 35
organizations to increase opportunities for mentorships, internships, 36
apprenticeships and specialized training in interpreting services for 37
deafblind persons; 38
(6) Partner with civic and community organizations serving deaf, 39
hard of hearing or deafblind persons on workshops and information 40
sessions regarding new laws, regulations or developments regarding 41
services, programs or health care needs of such persons; 42
(7) Raise public awareness of programs and services available to deaf, 43
hard of hearing or deafblind persons; 44 Raised Bill No. 5241
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(8) Assist the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in implementing 45
telecommunication relay service programs for deaf, hard of hearing or 46
deafblind persons, utilizing assistive devices for telecommunications 47
that include, but are not limited to, telecommunication relay services, 48
telephone captioning services and other captioning services; 49
(9) Work with the Governor and Connecticut television stations on 50
ways to make television broadcasts more accessible to persons who are 51
deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind; and 52
(10) In consultation with the Advisory Board for Persons who are 53
Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Deafblind, identify the needs of deaf, hard of 54
hearing or deafblind persons and address policy changes that may be 55
necessary to better serve such persons. 56
(d) Not later than July 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the executive 57
director shall file a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 58
11-4a of the general statutes, with the Commissioner of Aging and 59
Disability Services and the joint standing committees of the General 60
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services and 61
public health on the activities of the Bureau of Services for Deaf, Hard 62
of Hearing or Deafblind Persons in the previous calendar year. The 63
report shall include, but need not be limited to, recommendations to 64
improve services for such persons. 65
Sec. 2. (Effective July 1, 2024) (a) Not later than thirty days following 66
the date on which the executive director of the Bureau of Services for 67
Persons Who Are Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Deafblind is appointed, the 68
executive director shall convene a working group on access to health 69
care by persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind. 70
(b) The executive director shall invite participation in the working 71
group from organizations representing Connecticut hospitals and other 72
health care facilities and advocates of persons who are deaf, hard of 73
hearing or deafblind. The executive director shall serve as chairperson 74
of the working group. 75 Raised Bill No. 5241
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(c) The executive director shall file a report, in accordance with the 76
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, not later than July 1, 77
2025, with the Commissioner of Aging and Disability Services and the 78
joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance 79
of matters relating to human services and public health. The report shall 80
include (1) data on compliance by health care facilities with federal law 81
requiring meaningful access to health care by deaf, hard of hearing and 82
deafblind persons, (2) reported obstacles to compliance, and (3) 83
recommendations to improve such access. 84
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2024 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2024 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a bureau to coordinate services and information for persons
who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]